Mead Tea or Tea Mead
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Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
There's a recipe in the DB for a Chai spiced Cyser that might be something you're interested in.
homebrewer_99
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Here's a recipe I made in 1996 (I was not a very good note taker early in this hobby):
NAME OF BEER: Fruit & Almond Tea Mead
STYLE: Mead
BATCH SIZE: 5 gals
INGREDIENTS:
1 gal (12 lbs) Sweet Clover Honey
60 Bags (3 boxes of 20) Bigelows Fruit & Almond Tea
1 tsp Irish Moss
1 tsp Gypsum
1 tsp Citric Acid
M62 Sweet Mead Liquid Yeast
PRIOR TO BREWING: 1 day prior: boil 2 gals water and add all the tea bags. Let sit overnight. Drain prior to use.
Add Honey to tea. Boil for 5 mins. Skim off scum. Add Irish Moss, Gypsum, and Citric Acid. Boil another 10 mins. Top off to 5 gals.
TEMPERATURE YEAST PITCHED: 78 F
FERMENTATION: 100 days total
COMMENTS, ADDITIONAL NOTES AND OTHER INFORMATION: Sweet, but not overly sweet. Do not drive after a couple of these.
NAME OF BEER: Fruit & Almond Tea Mead
STYLE: Mead
BATCH SIZE: 5 gals
INGREDIENTS:
1 gal (12 lbs) Sweet Clover Honey
60 Bags (3 boxes of 20) Bigelows Fruit & Almond Tea
1 tsp Irish Moss
1 tsp Gypsum
1 tsp Citric Acid
M62 Sweet Mead Liquid Yeast
PRIOR TO BREWING: 1 day prior: boil 2 gals water and add all the tea bags. Let sit overnight. Drain prior to use.
Add Honey to tea. Boil for 5 mins. Skim off scum. Add Irish Moss, Gypsum, and Citric Acid. Boil another 10 mins. Top off to 5 gals.
TEMPERATURE YEAST PITCHED: 78 F
FERMENTATION: 100 days total
COMMENTS, ADDITIONAL NOTES AND OTHER INFORMATION: Sweet, but not overly sweet. Do not drive after a couple of these.
Wow, I thought I was going nuts with ~40 bags of tea for a 5g batch...
I'm hoping my Green Tea w/ Chai comes out good. It smelled great as I was mixing the honey into the tea mixture.
I'm hoping my Green Tea w/ Chai comes out good. It smelled great as I was mixing the honey into the tea mixture.
hightest
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This does appear to be an older recipe, and as such I'll simply offer these comments (FWIW).
I see no basis for adding Irish moss or gypsum to a mead. Further, the use of any acid prior to the end of an active fermentation can interfer with an optimum fermentation.
I see no basis for adding Irish moss or gypsum to a mead. Further, the use of any acid prior to the end of an active fermentation can interfer with an optimum fermentation.
homebrewer_99
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I know that's one practice/technique, but I've never had any problems with the (20+) meads and ciders I've brewed by adding the acid blend to the boil.
Of course, I don't add any to my Lemonade Mead.
homebrewer_99
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Well, it's not a Chai Cyser, it's a Fruit and Almond Tea mead.
The gypsum makes the water harder and the Irish Moss is used for clarity.
The DB (database) mentioned is here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/ Look under mead recipes...
The gypsum makes the water harder and the Irish Moss is used for clarity.
The DB (database) mentioned is here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/ Look under mead recipes...
Bill's correct, look under "mead" in the Recipe Database area of the forum.
I think it was summersolstice who posted the Chai spiced Cyser, but I'm not sure at the moment.
Either way, once my test batch of the green tea chai mead is drinkable, I'll consider adding it to the recipe db as well as doing much more experimentation with Chai. It smelled SOOOOOOOOOO good going into the fermenter. Sadly it's only like 2 weeks since I made it so its still too young to see if it's any good. The chai is probably masked by alcohol bite right now. Summer should be a real telling point on how good it really is.
I think it was summersolstice who posted the Chai spiced Cyser, but I'm not sure at the moment.
Either way, once my test batch of the green tea chai mead is drinkable, I'll consider adding it to the recipe db as well as doing much more experimentation with Chai. It smelled SOOOOOOOOOO good going into the fermenter. Sadly it's only like 2 weeks since I made it so its still too young to see if it's any good. The chai is probably masked by alcohol bite right now. Summer should be a real telling point on how good it really is.
hightest
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Used in the proper settings, these additives do serve a pupose. However, I would submit that in present day mead recipes they are not useful.
Gypsum (CaSO4) is highly insoluble in water: 0.205g/100ml. If pH buffering is needed in a mead, either potassium carbonate (or the bicarbonate form) perform that task more effectively, and also provide potassium that is important to the maintenance of pH levels.
Irish moss (a type of seaweed) contains a polymer (k-carrageenan) that reacts with proteins under the proper conditions preventing them from causing clarity problems later on. However, Irish moss needs to be added to a boiling liquid for it to work, and present day mead processes do not advocate boiling the must.
Well thanks for the clarification. I will search through the Database for the Chia Cyser. My meads have been drinkable and some have aged beautifully. I still haven't achieved the "Big Mouth Feel" you get with a good Merlot, Chianti, or my favorite German Riesling. Or maybe I need to quite drinking them. LOL. I'm still searching for that right taste. This Mead I made with the tea was Roasted Root Dandelion had an interesting roasted flavor when steeped. I didn't achieve that flavor, but it is good to drink. Thanks for your comments
homebrewer_99
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Totally understandable the logic behind using ingredients, but since it was my experiment I just wrote down what I knew at the time.Used in the proper settings, these additives do serve a pupose. However, I would submit that in present day mead recipes they are not useful.
Gypsum (CaSO4) is highly insoluble in water: 0.205g/100ml. If pH buffering is needed in a mead, either potassium carbonate (or the bicarbonate form) perform that task more effectively, and also provide potassium that is important to the maintenance of pH levels.
Irish moss (a type of seaweed) contains a polymer (k-carrageenan) that reacts with proteins under the proper conditions preventing them from causing clarity problems later on. However, Irish moss needs to be added to a boiling liquid for it to work, and present day mead processes do not advocate boiling the must.
For a long time I've been advocate for learning what each ingredient you use will do to a batch.
I've been looking at recipes and the way others make their meads and wonder. But obviously everyones method is the right way for them, as long as they achieve their goals. So that means I got more to learn.
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